7 weeks

Well, Ms Lily is now 7 weeks old & life just keeps getting crazier & crazier. I don't know how I "won" the lottery of babies with digestive issues, but I did! For anyone who can remember Kaya as an infant, you know what I'm going through. . . again! Lots of crying & screaming, lots of spit up, reflux med, constant holding, no sleep, constant feeding, elimination diet for mommy & that DARN bouncy ball!!! I don't know why that soothes them, but it does, so I do it! I had to scrape Lily's diaper for a stool sample - awesome - & she does have blood from her intestines in there, just like Kaya did. I have been on the elimination diet (no dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, or fish) for almost 4 weeks now & Lily's been on reflux meds for about the same time but she's not really improving. So, we have an apt with the GI Dr. on the 24th, hopefully they can shed some light. At least with Lily we're solving this at 2 months instead of 4 as we did Kaya!

It's eerie to me how similar my girls really are. As infants they had very similar birth weights & heights, dark hair, beautiful blue eyes, take reflux medicine, GI Dr. needed, love the bouncy ball, HATE the car seat with a passion & will scream until you take them out (even for 2 whole hours as I found out the hard way), nurse often, won't take a bottle or binky, have to be held to sleep (24/7), don't like the swing or bouncy/vibrate chair, have rolly-polly thighs, adorable cheeks, & are super cute.

Going form 1 to 2 is challenging, but has been made extra hard with Lily being sick. I apologize for any unanswered emails, unreturned phone calls, & lack of photos sent. Please keep us in your prayers, I know they help! Hopefully when Aaron is back in town I'll be able to post some pics, Kaya loved Halloween & looked adorable as the little mermaid! Such a girl!

3 weeks old

I have no idea how any mommy with more than 1 kid can find time to blog - kudos to you all!!! That being said, Ms Lily has been here for 3 weeks now & I am just getting around to putting up some photos. Any second I've had "free" I've tried to catch up on some sleep. My mom was here for 2 weeks (heaven) and Aaron's had this week off work so I've been spoiled getting to sleep in with Lily after she turns into an eating machine around 3:30am. Come Monday it's time for a reality check, bummer.
I will review some highlights, although most of you already know the details from the email Aaron sent out. Lily Elizabeth Ann was born 9-25 at 7:54 am, weighing 8 lb 12 oz, & was 20 1/2". The Dr's had a hard time getting her broad shoulders out of the incision & asked "Is she a linebacker"? I thought she was beautiful the second I laid my eyes on her & was so happy she was here safely. I had wonderful nurses & only had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights! We had lots of visitors in the hospital (thank you all for your love & support). The 2nd time around has been a smoother recovery which has allowed me to be up & moving around sooner than last time. Lily is a good baby, very sweet & snugly. She gets pretty fussy at night from about 7-11, but compared to 24/7 with Kaya, no problem! Lily also LOVES to eat, she really does. At her 2 week apt she had made it all the way up to 9 lb 4 oz already. Way to go little girl! The only tricky part is that she is VERY difficult to burp & often gets gas in her belly which makes her fussy. I've had to come up with a repertoire of burp positions & sometimes none of them work. Oh well, at least I try, right? Lily also loves to be held, night or day and doesn't like to have her arms swaddled tight. She likes to sleep with her arms up by her head, just like I did when I was a baby, which my mom loved - taking her down a trip on memory lane.
Kaya has been such a great big sister, I keep waiting for the "honeymoon" to be over. Kaya loves to hold Lily & help be involved. She also likes to take care of her babies right along side of me. The day we came home from the hospital Lily gave Kaya a play kitchen & Kaya was thrilled! She has been cooking up wonderful meals ever since then. Good gift Lily! It's been amazing to realize how big & grown up Kaya really is, I don't think I was prepared for that. I love having 2 girls and look forward to watching them grow together.

*I ran out of time to put the photos in order or journal them - maybe later! Life as a mom of 2 is sure busy!

Tomorrow

In about 16 hours we will be a family of 4! I am having my c-section tomorrow morning & can't believe it's finally here. I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am (yuck) but might as well since I'm not sleeping much lately anyway. We will keep you all posted on Ms. Lily! Wish us luck!

The Fair

Last week we went to the fair with Nana & Papa and we had a great time! The best part about the fair is all the yummy/greasy food, and boy did we indulge. Kaya & Aaron of course loved sharing a cotton candy, & between our whole group we ate 2 elephant ears. Kaya wanted to "ride in the sky" so we rode the rickety gondola to appease the princess. She also rode the carousel 3-4 times. The first time she couldn't take her eyes off the fun house that was next to the carousel & kept saying "spooky, spooky" and shaking her head. After she realized she wouldn't have to go in the fun house, she was able to relax & enjoy the rest of her ride. She also loved the petting zoo, she loves her animals! The lucky girl was up until 10:30 (fun for her, but not so much fun for mommy the next day with Ms. Cranky pants)! We always love to "do the Puyallup" and look forward to going again next year.

What are those goats eating?

Kaya & Daddy sharing their cotton candy

Nana & Kaya enjoying their cotton candy too

Circus Fun

At the beginning of the month we got to see "The Greatest Show on Earth"! Aaron had a week off of work and wanted to do something fun together so he got us tickets to Ringling Bro.'s Barnum & Bailey Circus. He also got a ticket for Kaya's BFF, Brookie. After all, everything is more fun with a friend! The two girls were in awe the second we walked in. They had so much fun seeing all the animals & waving to the "princesses" who were riding them. They also devoured the cotton candy (along with Daddy) and wore eachother out! All in all it was a fun outing!

At times there was so much going on the girls didn't know what to look at!

Amazing!

Mommy & the girls!

Kaya's life

These photos pretty much sum up Kaya's life lately. She is way in to babies & dollies (still) and it's so fun to watch her be a little mommy. She takes such good care of them, feeds them in her high chair, pushes them in her stroller, gives them bottles, & puts them down for naps in their cribs. I was playing with her in her toy room the other day & said "waa, waa, uh oh, baby needs her mommy" and handed the baby to Kaya. She held her baby & I could tell she was thinking hard. Then she said "waa, waa, uh oh, baby needs her Nama" and handed the baby to me. I was floored, how did she make that connection? It was kind of creepy, I'm not ready to be a grandma yet, even just pretend! I also had one of those moments when you realize your kid is smarter than you give them credit for. In this picture Kaya is holding her dolls & she is pretending that the bigger one is the big sister (her) to the baby (Lily). I guess she's just getting good practice in. I'm happy she's doing a real smile & not a squinty face smile!


Kaya also loves playing Barbies. She's getting pretty good at dressing them, but her specialty is undressing them. As you can tell from the photo, most of them are naked the majority of the time - no idea why. She has a remote control Jeep for her dolls (used to be mine) and she loves to drive them around. I love that she will play in the kitchen while I'm getting dinner ready, it's fun to listen to her talk to/for her Barbies. It's also nice that she'll entertain herself and play by herself for a bit. What a big girl!


Kaya's other love in her life is her my little ponies! She is hooked! She knows most of their names & has even assigned one of the ponies as the "Ya Ya pony". Of course it's the pink one & for the record I had no persuasion on that decision. She loves pink, what can I say!?! She asks to watch a pony movie every day & totes a couple of them with her wherever she goes. I'm so glad to have a girl, I love that I get to relive my childhood everyday. It's going to be great to have 2 of them soon!

Rollerskating Fun

We have been loving the roller rink lately. A few weeks ago we went with the Dorsey's to a rink in Auburn where they have a special time on Tuesdays for little ones to skate. It was so fun & Kaya was really getting into it. Usually she hangs on to me the whole time, but she was ready to show her skills this time. She also really got in to the dancing & had me laughing the whole time. Her little skates are so cute - what a doll! Kaya & Brookie crack me up together, they really are great friends.

Kaya really got in to the hokey pokey & the chicken dance. What a star!

Kaya, Brookie, & Kendall (Brookie's cousin) cooling off with an icy treat

Last week Aaron's office put on a skating party for their patients/non-patient friends & it was a huge success! The place was PACKED and everyone had a blast. Kaya liked showing off her skills for Daddy and the two of them looked so cute skating together. There were also some carnival games & Kaya set up camp right by one of the prize baskets. The office girls spoiled her with glow necklaces, giant pixie stix, little beanie babies, & flower bracelets. Needless to say Kaya made out like a bandit & loved every minute of it. We can't wait for next years rollerskating party! (I know other people have good pics from the night so I'll have to add them later)


Kaya of course showing her Molen pride in her Molen Magic T-shirt